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The Cincinnati Bengals have north of $50 million in cap space after cutting offensive tackle Cordy Glenn.
And the team plans to use some of it in 2020 NFL free agency.
According to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, the Bengals have earmarked about $25 million for a free-agent budget.
That number isn’t as straightforward as it seems though. Hobson notes that the number doesn’t include an A.J. Green franchise tag — it’s considered a wash with Andy Dalton’s $17 million expected to come off the books.
But it does include a potential Mixon extension, as well as restricted tenders in the potential neighborhood of $8.6 million.
So roughly, perhaps $16.4 million before a Mixon extension. That’s plenty of money to spend on potentially one big name — like a linebacker — or perhaps a pair of mid-range guys. Either way, it’s no secret the objective is probably attacking the defense.
Signing the 2020 draft class, by the way, should come roughly around what they rolled over from last year’s cap ($11.2 million, per Spotrac), but they could rollover again.
While it’d be fun to say the Bengals plan on using $50 million in free agency, that just isn’t how they typically do business. They sound more willing than usual to spend on outsiders to help roster turnover for the Zac Taylor era, but they’ve also got eyes on making sure Green and Mixon stay in town for the long haul.
Unless the NFL pushes things back (the Bengals issued a statement on coronavirus), we’ll find out early next week.
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